Cowgirls Don't Cry, They Get Even
by Rhiannon A. Christy
Summary: Trail Boss Sam Uley realizes that he should have listened to his ex-girlfriend's mother all these years. Outtake Oneshot for Rawhide and Lace, but can stand alone.Rated for Language and violence


(Sam's POV)

Looking down the barrel of my girlfriend's .44 I thought about how I found myself in the current situation. It wasn't exactly my fault….ok, it wasn't fully my fault. You see there are three parties that lead me to find myself staring at the wrong end of a Colt.

Me, my girlfriend's cousin, and good old Jack.

Old Jack and me were old friends, he never failed to take the edge off a stressful day. That particular day, oh about a week ago, had been one of the most stressful ones I had had in a year. The cattle that my employer, my girlfriend's father, had just sold to some big ranch up in Montana had started to disappear.

Now, never in all the years I have worked for the Clearwaters have I ever just lost cattle. The fact is you don't just loose them, and I knew that either something or someone had to have been taking them. So I had decided to saddle up my horse and ride out along the rim of the ranch.

I found the missing cattle; or what was left of them. Ten, ten fucking head of cattle had been lead out to the northern most edge of the ranch and someone had set up a crude workshop and butchered them right on Harry Clearwater's land. I ended up calling out the cops, even though I really wanted to just grab my gun and find the bastard myself.

By the time that everything was settled for the evening I was tired and wanting nothing more than to shoot something. Instead I stormed into the lodge where I normally lived and grabbed a bottle of my faithful friend. I didn't even bother with a glass, just drank straight from the bottle as I flopped down in the chair in my office.

Now, had I remained in my office I'm sure none of this would have happened. Sadly, when I had drank the bottle dry I had decided that I wasn't done and had gone to find another bottle. My girlfriend, Leah, was out of town that night and not expected to return until morning. I had resigned myself to a cold bed that night, and I probably should have stuck to that.

When I had entered the kitchen, there standing in nothing but a t-shirt, was Leah's cousin. Emily Young had been visiting that month, she was to be married by the end of summer and wanted some time with the woman she considered a sister. When I had first met Emily I had thought she was beautiful, I was a man after all and I did have a love for the fine things in life, and she was fine. At that moment though, she was drop dead sexy. Of course that might have had something to do with the fact that she had stolen one of my shirts and was wearing nothing but that.

This is where I should have just tuned around and locked myself in my office, instead I walked in a gave Emily a slurred greeting. Just as I was reaching up in the cabinet for Old Jack I felt as Emily molded her front against my back. Everything just fell apart after that.

I still can't remember what exactly happened, just that there was a lot of lips and hands and bouncing, and little clothes. I woke up the next morning to the sound of Leah screaming. I sat up quickly, disoriented enough that I forgot all about what I had done the night before. My memory was refreshed quickly as I was jumping out of bed and dodging everything that Leah was throwing at me. All the way outside I ran while she screamed every curse word she knew and continued to throw things. And did I mention that I was naked, as in bare ass naked. Free and flinging all over the place.

Once Leah had run out of steam she stalked off yelling back at me that we were over. I had thought in the moment that I was not only going to get my ass kicked by both Harry and Seth, but I was going to have to find another job.

I was right about one thing, Seth punched me a couple of times a few hours later. Harry just grabbed his gun and told me we were going to go for a little ride. I seriously thought I was dead. Harry could be a scary bastard when he needed to be, and leading me out deep into the trees with his gun strapped to his hip was surely scaring the shit out of me. He didn't shoot me, but he did show me the place he would bury my body if I ever thought to touch his daughter again.

Thankfully he said I was too important as a Trail Boss to fire. At this moment though I'm wondering if I shouldn't have just quit and hightailed it out of Dodge. Leah had her .44 cocked and aimed straight at me, or more specifically, right at my dick.

"Come now Leah, you don't want to be doing something stupid. You don't want to go to jail for shooting me do you?" I watched as Leah licked her lips and squeezed the trigger just enough to cause my heart to stop. Somehow I knew she would do it.

"I'll just tell them it was an accident, the gun went off and I didn't realize that it was aimed at you. Accidents happen." I took a step closer in order to grab the gun, of course Leah just took a step backwards, her aim still perfect.

"They do, but everyone for miles knows you are a better shot than Annie Oakley. You were born with a damn gun in your hand, and you would never just point a loaded gun where it could go off." I wasn't really lying. Leah could out shoot, out ride, and out rope every one of us on the ranch. She looked all woman, but she was hard as nails.

"No one will find out, when I get done with you, you won't be able to talk." I was seriously fearing for my life now. I took another step towards her, not surprised when she took another back. Out of the corner of my eye I could see as Seth and Paul came running over, for a moment I thought I was saved. Though once the two noticed that Leah had a gun aimed right at me they stopped in their tracks. The bastards.

"Come on Leah, I was drunk and I swear she was the one that came onto me. You know you're the only one for me. I love you." It was the truth. After Leah had run off that day I returned to my room to find Emily getting dressed as though she hadn't just got caught naked in her cousin's boyfriend's bed.

The woman had smiled, kissed me and told me not to worry about her, that no one would believe she had done anything. That they would believe that I seduced her, so she would be safe. The bitch. She was right too. According to Embry, she went straight to Leah later that day, all tears, going on and on about how I had seduced her and gotten her so drunk she didn't know up from down. As I said, the bitch.

"Bullshit!" I clenched my eyes shut as she pulled the trigger. Two shots rang out around me as I felt pain on the insides of my thighs. For a moment I was so shocked that I swore she had actually shot my balls off. When I heard her walking away, I opened my eyes and looked down. The bitch had just grazed the insides of both thighs. Not deep enough to hit anything major, but enough to leave two scars.

I ignored the laughter of Paul and Seth as they helped me back to the lodge. I had just realized that what Leah's mom, Sue, had been telling for years was true.

Cowgirls don't cry, they get even.

I was going to listen to that woman from now on.

* * *

Author's Note: Ok, this is an outatake from another story I'm posting on Tricky Raven and JBnP, called Rawhide and Lace, which I may or may not post here. It will depend. I went ahead and decided to post this here though as it can also work as a stand alone.

Disclaimer:

**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**


End file.
